Doctors and bike mechanics, always telling you you’re not doing it right.

Is it just me? I fill my tires once a week and got scolded by the mechanic for not doing it 2-3 times a week. In the past I’ve been scolded for having my bike in the rain (I was riding it at the time), locking it up outside (I was inside at the time), and, my personal favorite, riding on bumpy roads. I didn’t make the roads, mechanic dude. I just ride them.

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Comments:

Best question to ask when walking into a bike store and a male/female who appears to work there proceeds to give you advice: "Did, you stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night." (to paraphrase).

btw, you paid taxes therefore in a way, you did make the roads.

http://alixetiir.tumblr.com AlixeTiir

Wait, wait, wait. That isn't right! He didn't make the roads, the roadway engineers did.

He just paid the roadway engineers.

Stefenheif

Wow, and I thought that once a week was a lot. Some years ago, I was commuting 4 km winter and summer in Quebec, and filled my tires once or twice tops a month, but I have a mountain bike.
Ten-speed bikes need to have high pressure or you might damage the wheel.
The tire is also more susceptible to get punctured by a sharp rock.
Winter is hard on a bike tho. It wore down my chain, sprocket and derailleurs.

Tevildo

When I was commuting I got in the habit of checking my pressures every day because the difference of just a few pounds of pressure was noticable. Now I walk to work (not nearly so fun) and only ever mountain bike so bumpy roads? Hopefully not going to do any damage And the pressures on the mountain bike get changed several times a ride depending on the trail type.

The only time I was ever there while my bike was being services it was a free service provided by my company and I'd only bought the bike the previous day

WilliamF

Never had a bike mechanic nag or shame me like that, unsolicited. The only advice I've ever really gotten was after I asked – and yes, it's things I don't do, like clean my rims so they don't get worn down so fast and the brakes don't squeak.

My ideal bike is one that requires almost no maintenance. Internal gearing, hub brakes, flat-proof tires, etc. Like a classic Amsterdam city bike. They leave those things out in the rain and all kinds of weather, never maintain them, and just hop on and ride when they feel like it. Perfect!

My newest bike has internal gears, but it's also a folding bike, which seems like a maintenance nightmare. So many extra moving bits and places with grease.

march

As a student, I couldn't afford something too nice. I also don't know much about bikes. I got something off Amazon that looked like it had been in a warehouse for an age and it'd had a punctured inner tube (as I found out the hard way). I took it to the shop to get a new tube and to get the seat fixed… (it wouldn't stay put though I tightened it). The guy took one look at the bike and said, "Well, we aren't working with very high quality stuff here." Dude. I'm a student and I can't afford better! Please just help me fix my bike!

Gnu

march, I think the mechanic was just suggesting not to expect too much. Many shops will refuse flatly to work on "big box store" bikes (WalMart, Target, etc.). At that price point, the bikes are not made to be repairable. Think Yugo. A well used Fiat was regarded as a much better buy. They serve a purpose but they don't last long.

http://underneaththecover.wordpress.com/ mitchgustavtherobot

I only bike occasionally, but I NEVER fill my tires. Oh dear!

Gnu

Presumably you did not take your bike to the shop for a play date with the other bikes. Bike shop employees don't need to sleep at a Holiday Inn Express to know what they're doing, it's their job. Maybe they were just trying to save you a buck by not repeating the actions that resulted in your trip to the repair shop. They apparently cared enough about you and your bike to bring some issues to your attention. There is no shortage of bike shops and you apparently find this one worth patronizing. Work with them.

Chuck

Man, hipster bike mechanics… amirite?

Lee B

Bike culture and bike shops have a pretty strong "you're doing it wrong" issue. I am a schlubby commuter who wants to ride 4 miles (slowly) when the weather is nice in a shirt and tie. I want a Amsterdam/Copenhagen-style bicycle. I will ride through potholes, over broken glass, and in puddles, because that's what's between my home and work. I don't care if the fender slows me down some because you know what else slows me down? I'm out of shape and un-athletic. This is my fair-weather ride to work, not training for a triathlon.

As bicycling becomes more common, there needs to be an understanding that MOST of the newcomers are interested in mobility, not bicycling it it of itself. Us "livability" kinds of cyclists are much happier with cycletracks and separated bike infrastructure even if it crosses more intersections and slows us down, because we're not going 30 miles an hour, but we are going faster than we can walk, and would rather not be doored/pressed up close between a bus and a SUV.

Obviously, like with any other possession of value, there is maintenance I must do to keep it up and running, but I also don't need 21 speeds (and the resulting complexity), exposed chains, and parts not designed to be used in a rainy/snowy city. I am not saying I want to be willfully ignorant or negligent, but I there is a LOT of room for creating simplicity and convenience.

Simplicity and convenience are specifically, of course, what hobbyists don't want, because it's their hobby and they enjoy the complexity. That's fine, I get it. I still insist of building my own PCs and selecting the parts individually. It's not really *mine* unless I have the cables organized/disorganized in the way I prefer, but that doesn't mean that my neighbor who just wants to watch YouTube, write a novel, and email their cousins somehow doesn't deserve to have a computer. And hell, pre-built systems come with simple, convenient turn-key tools for anti-virus and backup, those bits of necessary maintenance for non-hobbyists.

</rant>

While this may have been written during business hours, no one should construe any comment here as anything other than my own personal feelings. They do not represent my employer or any other related entity.

I fyou weally want to keep you bike in top riding shape you should first of all never ride it.

http://twitter.com/MasterGlitch @MasterGlitch

Filling your tires 2-3 times per week? Maybe if you have 120psi tires or some kind of leak… As for the other things, I think a lot of fair-weather recreational cyclists just don't understand that some people also cycle for utilitarian reasons and can't just decide not to go to work or pick up groceries just because it's raining or just because bikes aren't allowed indoors in those places.

michaelajunker

I just take it to the shop, hand the bike over and say "Bike broken, you fix. See you in two hours."

http://www.lowlifescum.com Lucifer.:LLS:.

Got a relatively cheap bike myself and I only ever need to top up the air every month or so.

Only time I had to take it to get repaired was when I got hit by a car. The shop I took it to was a place that was run by the same old guy for 40 years. No "you're doing it wrong", no fixies, no pretentious idiots. Alas, the guy has since retired and it's almost impossible to find a similar down to earth place.

Angelo L

There was a bike shop in my town on the main street that unless you bought the bike there, it was a piece of shit. Friend of mine got a top 'o the line mountain bike, and took it there for a stupid little thing, like aligning the reflectors. Bernie, who was the owner, was like, "What street did you pick this thing out of the garbage from?" My friend was like, "Dude, this is a $1,000 bike!"

Anyway, this reminded me of that story.

cup

Thousand bucks is no where near top of the line.

http://www.bikehound.co.uk/ Bikehound

If you would like to keep you bike in pristine condition, don't ride it!

I like to have bike's that require little maintenance, but you're always going to have to do something with it. The only thing I have ever been told to do is wash my rims, otherwise they get worn out.
The way you find out if your rims are clean enough is to 1. look at them! and 2. if you have tiny metal shards in your break pads then this is parts of the rims being warn away by the dirt.

Rossmom

Long, long, long ago I owned a bike that had solid rubber tires. So there was never a question of needing air.
I don’t even know if there were bike shops.

Glad technology has progressed to the point that there are more options for bikers and bike mechanics to keep them going and going and going.

Trisha

I top my tires off twice a week since I'm commuting 17.5 hilly miles over pavement in varying states of repair. I like to keep the psi in the high end since most of those are rural miles where I can't just hail a cab or catch a bus if I get a flat, and I'd prefer not to have to replace a tube roadside if I can help it.